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Margaux CornelisonKatharine Siler
Teresa Harris
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ProjectsChanges [Jul 26, 2007]
Margaux CornelisonThe password to post to this wiki, add images, or create pages is Africa
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Dear Ken, Nice to hear from you. I got an argent trip, so I will not be able to pick mama, from the airport, however my son who is 21years old will be at the airport and a taxi, driver to pick mama. So it's all arranged from this side. So will inform them for the changes as well. Patrick.
Tom, I have 2 adapters for all of us to share. The ones for South Africa are unusual in that they have 3 very large prongs. She has the webpage information that I gave early on with information on the current. Best Buy is a good place to check, but don't get the adapters for Europe because they're the wrong kind.
Hello to All! I had a real adventure trying to get to Kenya with storms delaying flights that led to missed connections and re-routing to finally arrive in Nairobi with weather like I left at home and dear friends to greet me. Hope you have as much success getting baggage and through customs as I did this time. I'm eager to see my students in Johannesburg and then to see my wonderful family.
To my friends at Trinity, church was indeed 3 hours long and it was wonderful! They send their love and prayers your way with thanks for the care that we have shown Mary, Leah, and Isaiah. I'll have a presentation to make and would even be willing to do a children's sermon.
Nairobi has been great. I've had a lovely visit with my friend Ann Nyambura who is working for Mercy Corps in conflict transformation. Today I went to a wonderful place called GoDown, a lively arts center that was filled with energy of all kinds. Tonight is my last night here. I hope to see Doreen Ruto to get some things from her and then off to For You Chinese Restaurant, a wonderful place for good food where we eat under a canopy with little jikos (small firepots) to heat the area. It should be a great time! Tomorrow I'll be in South Africa...
I will be going to Child Academy today to see the school and meet with the teachers and children before they go on their winter break. I should have some better ideas for what my students and I will do while we're there as well as how to respond to the great need for more space. It is exciting to face such a challenges and the convictions that Isaac has for his school and the township.
My friends are taking VERY good care of me by feeding me well, making sure I have time to read everything I required of the students and the books that we are reading while in the country, and talking about their lives in this country. Their children, ages 23, 20, and 13 are so much fun! I can't wait for everyone to get together to meet. We'll certainly have pictures to post soon.
Also, when you go to Ivory Park, I hope you can take some pictures because I would be interested to know how well our patching and painting have held up. Hopefully, the boys and girl (I have already forgotten their names) who helped us learned enough that could they could fix up any defects.
Likewise, I am really curious about the plumbing repairs at St. Peters. I hope you get a chance to meet up with Raymond so that you can tell him I think of him and wish him well in his job (which should be better than being a plumber, ha).
What an interesting itinerary. "Your" girls will get quite the understanding of South Africa.
Richy left today for Nairobi and he was thoughtful enough to call both Ann and me from the airport to let us know that all the luggage (both checked and carry-on) was accepted. I worried about that and had double checked everything last night. Any chance of posting some pictures of Isaac and the churches and your group?
Eight of the students have arrived, shared a supper of delivery pizza, and even a little sleep. Right now the girls have had breakfast and are reading the first of 3 books that are assigned for our stay here. I'll let them fill you in on what they're reading and seeing. There should be some pictures posted before long as well so you can see where we are and what we're up to.
Sarah, Jackie, and Katharine were the first arrivals in the country. They got to do a home stay with my dear friends Isaac and Maggie Mahlatsi in Lombardy East, outside J'burg. Believe it or not, we prepared lasagne and salad for supper and our hostess declared it, "Yummy!", an expression she learned from me last year. Then the girls taught T (age 13) and Tlapi (age 20) how to play the card game 31. Young people the world over seem to enjoy card games and there was quite a lot of laughter throughout as people (no names here!) looked at one another's cards and celebrated victories and defeats at each hand. Tlapi loved having girls to talk with on Thursday morning as we spent most of our time in the kitchen together while the guys (T and his older brother Karabelo, age 22) enjoyed such beautiful and friendly female company.
We headed off to pick up our books from the bookstore and then arrived at the airport in time to exchange money and greet our other Sarah, Allyson, Emily, Rebecca, and Merrium. If the amount of luggage was staggering enough, our wonderful driver not only loaded it into the trailer with the stuff the four of us already had, but he also removed the trailer to be able to get the 12-passenger van out of the tight parking space we were in. Needless to say, we were all impressed with his strength and driving ability.
On the way to our guest house, we began learning some of the language which we'll be practicing as we ride along for the next month. Today the girls are already into their first book, The Syringa Tree and writing in their journals. It's a good thing! Later this afternoon we'll head to the airport to pick up Margaux, Kate, and Jamie and then head out to the Design Quarter and supper at The Tribes before returning to the Arbez for a Pirates of the Carribean party, complete with kerchiefs and eye patches for the guests. Saturday, our day of rest before an incredibly busy week, will probably be a welcome break as we finish getting over jet lag and all the excitement.
I want to leave room for the girls to share some things for everyone to read. Each should have a page created before too long as well.
Supper was unbelievable. Some of us had incredible wine from South Africa (only one glass!), a shared appetizer, and then all kinds of exciting African foods. The Greek owner of the restaurant came out to welcome us as ambassadors from America and then, towards the end of the meal, a group of the waiters played the drums for us! It was so exciting and several people captured the magical moments from the evening. We concluded supper with desserts that were mostly chocoate.
After our supper we headed back to the guest house to settle the new arrivals and head off to the Pirates party. It was in full swing, with guests in all kinds of pirate costumes. Since the music was too loud for me and the crowd seemed significantly younger, I checked on everyone and then headed off to reconcile the books and plan for the rest of the weekend. I'm sure you'll be reading about the evening from everyone else!
Today we'll go to the Lion Park to check out the animals. As soon as we figure out how to post pictures, we'll have those up to share with everyone.
Hey Jacki, it looks like or sounds like you are with the group and having fun! Would love to hear from you girlie! Everybodys has been asking about you. I love you-Mom
Hi Katie, hope you are have a great time and that you get this message as I'm not sure I'm doing this right. Let us know. We got your phone message and are glad you are having a great time. Miss you. Love mom & dad
Margaux: Hey Margaux!!!! We got your message, and tried calling for hours last night, but busy signal only. Let me know what time is good to call - also Grandma will try again too! Hope everything went well - did you ever get to sleep on the flight? Love, Mom
Posted July 2, 2002 5:00 PM Katie Hi Kate, Hope all is well. Brigid is now an employee of the Piscataway School System, Yeah. Just thought I'd let you know. Have been reading all the notes from Teresa - tell her thanks so much for us. She sounds like she is doing a great job. Wish we were there. Have fun love and kisses Mom and Dad
After making a serious investment in the Cape Town economy on Thursday and having supper overlooking the water, we spent Friday heading even further south along the coast. The scenery was spectacular! We got to ride in a boat out to Seal Island to see lots of seals on the rocks and boulders. We made stops to see some very wet ostriches (it was rainy), grabbed some excellent hot chocolate and shopped in a little artsy "village", headed on to Cape Point to see where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet and eat some lunch, and then retuned inland, stopping to see penguins all over a small beach area. We ate supper near our residence and turned in early (at least early for us).
For today we started out our Saturday morning touring a vineyard that produces sparkling wines. They're very much like champagne, but since this is South Africa and not France, the wine has to be called sparkling. With renovations underway, we really only got to do some tasting, but there were no complaints from the participants!
We then headed over to learn how brandy is made. This was a fascinating experience where we received a welcome glass of a brandy that was mixed with juice and watched a video before touring the facility. We learned about the first distillation, the head-heart-tail of the wine, and the second distillation in copper vats. Then we watched a cooper make the barrels using very old tools. Apparently making barrels is an art form that is disappearing with new technologies that can produce 100s of barrels a day. The barrels themselves are actually used for up to 50 years! Then we saw one of the cellars where the wine is kept. The aroma was incredibly strong and some people decided to move farther away from the fumes. The barrels are filled completely, but over the aging process, they lose about 3% of the total volume.
The brandy tasting that followed the tour was a bit much for most of us so we chose to sniff the brandy in each glass rather than actually drink it.
After the morning, we were eager to get some lunch at the next winery and cheetah farm. The pasta and sandwiches we ordered were delicious! Then people headed off to see the cheetahs, check out the shops, and go to the wine tasting. It was a lovely day overall.
As I'm writing to catch people up on our travels, everyone else is having supper on a dinner boat that will cruise around for a couple hours and then dock. Once in the harbor there will be music and dancing until the girls call Steven for a ride back to the Lazy Lizard. We have an 8:00 a.m. start tomorrow to go to Table Mountain and Robben Island and then fly home to get ready for a busy week running a winter camp.
Travels with 12 women is always an adventure and heading out to a village that's not even on most maps creates opportunities to explore more of the country than originally planned. By the time we finally arrived, we'd cancelled Monday's camp and focused on getting groceries at the local market and getting settled in our new home. Who knew we'd be such celebrities! Our white skin and American accents set us apart from the locals and people were eager to greet us.
With a teachers' strike that began June 1, we weren't sure how many children would actually show up, but bright and early (actually about 9:30) we arrived and children starting coming through the gate. By the time we were underway we had about 100 kids on the playground learning games like pulse and link tag. We learned a few games ourselves from the children. The crafts were a hit, chalk drawings decorated the sidewalk, face painting and tatoos brought children and students together, and we had our fair share of card sharks playing all kinds of card games. Each day was filled with lots of running and laughing and playing together. By our last day of camp we had bonded with "our" children and our dear friends Katy an Laura. We bid a tearful goodbye and headed home to the Arbez to prepare for the Kruger weekend. I was so proud of each of the students on this trip. They stepped right up to leading games and planning activities and living a life that is quite different from their own lives in the states. Their criticial reflections on the first half of our trip indicated that they are really thinking about this beautiful place with its complex history and multifaceted challenges.
The panoramic route through Blyde River Canyon to see Bourke's potholes, God's Window, a rainforest, and a few roadside shops was breathtaking! It set the stage for our safari ride early Saturday morning (my birthday) to see 3 of the "big 5": lions, hippos, and a rhino as well as giraffes, zebras, elephants, a crocodile, and impala as well as some monkeys and baboons. Our night drive was more about off-road 4-wheeling in open air vehicles than seeing animals, but the sunset was beautiful and supper was delicious. Sunday's drive let us see some more animals but nothing new. We left the park after lunch for the long ride back "home".
Today was the first day of our week at Child Academy in the township of Tembisa. Students met their teachers and spent some time in their classrooms. We had tea with Isaac Mahlatsi, the director, to learn about how the school began and then met with the teachers to plan for the rest of the week. Lunch was prepared for us so we ate a traditional African meal before heading out to purchase teaching materials for the week. Tomorrow we'll be teaching for most of the day and everyone seems really excited about what is planned.
We'll have more to share soon...
ps..call when you can...I lost the number...(ela really did) :)
Saturday marks the beginning of our time in Pretoria and the wrap up of our program. Families have been missed and there is regular conversation about going home as well. We'll have more to share when we have our next little break!
Hi everyone - what a wonderful experience you are having and how much you all must be learning. I'm proud to have our students and programs seen in such positive ways and you all will add much to everyone else's learning next year. Many thanks to Dr. Harris (Teresa) for doing all the work to arrange the trip, prepare the students and handle the millions of details involved in such an effort. You certainly will deserve some down time when you return. Thanks, too, to the parents and friends who are keeping track of "your special student" for your support of this international experience. Have a wonderful ending to the trip and see you back in the 'Burg.
Martha Ross, Head, Department of Early, Elementary and Reading Education
Today we shift our focus towards Pretoria with visits to the Voortrekker Museum, Freedom Square, and Sammy Marks house. We'll be led by Nkidi Phatudi, chair of the Early Childhood Dept. at University of Pretoria, and two of her early childhood students. Since it's Saturday night, we're going out to eat at the restaurant owned by Andani's (our most wonderful driver) mom for some authentic African food. Needless to say, next to teaching, eating is one of our favorite things to do! More on our last week in South Africa to come...
